Christmas in
USA

Celebrations of Christmas in the United States and
Canada

There are many Christmas traditions and celebrations in the United States and
Canada, most of which were brought by German and English immigrants. Both Germany and England are countries where
many of our popularChristmas
traditions have originated.

One of the enduring Christmas traditions is
gingerbread house, providing a true feast of Christmas
sweets.

Christmas in the United
States

Today Christmas in the United States can be seen as focused around family, travel,
shopping and decorations. Being a large country, family and travel go together in the US because family members
often have to travel fairly long distances to be with each other at one location during Christmas.

The Rockefeller Centre Christmas tree, in New York
City, is one of the most famous festive season features in the USA

The growth of US cities that have primarily economic activity, suburbs for
residences, as well as the fact of different industries being found in certain geographic locations, are among the
reasons that family members often live great distances from each other in separate states.

Christmas and its festivities therefore present a wonderful opportunity for many
members of the family to gather in celebration and see each other in an intimate setting. The traveling involved
makes the Christmas season a busy time of the year for rail and air travel in the United States.

Shopping is an important feature of Christmas in the United States, owing to the
occasion of seeing many family members at Christmas. The Christmas season officially begins on the Friday after
Thanksgiving, known as Black Friday and which now ranks second in shopping for a single day to the Saturday before
Christmas.

With family Christmas get togethers, much of the shopping is done to purchase
gifts for friends and family. Gifts for family members are usually exchanged after dinner on Christmas day, when
everyone gathers in the room with the Christmas tree. Gifts are usually left at the base of the Christmas tree in
the weeks leading up to Christmas Day.

In the United States houses often get richly
decorated during the Christmas
period

Shopping is also done at Christmas for decorations, which is only second to gifts.
While the Christmas tree may be the centerpiece of attraction, garlands, wreaths, candles and decorative lighting
placed outside on lawns or along rooflines are also used to create a beautiful holiday appearance for
homes.

Christmas in
Canada

Canadians enjoy Christmas activities that are similar to those celebrated in the
United States. That is so because in the 1700s when some German immigrants in the United States migrated to Canada,
they continued to practice many of the activities associated with Christmas.

The geographical proximity of the two countries and common language also means
they share many things, so similarities in Christmas traditions wouldn't be anexception. There are however some small differences between Christmas traditions and celebrations
in Canada and the United States.

One thing that accounts for the difference between the two countries is the Eskimo
population in Canada. Eskimos in Canada celebrate a festival during winter and have other traditions that are
absent from American Christmas celebrations.

There are many similarities and also some small
differences how Christmas is
celebrated in Canada and the United
States.

A practice also exists in Nova Scotia in which small groups of masked individuals
march around about two weeks before Christmas. These masked groups attract attention by creating stir with much
bell ringing and engaging in a noisy caper in an aim to get candy, sweets and goodies from onlookers.

This tradition bears some similarity to Jonkonoo celebrations in the neighboring
islands of the Caribbean. Those celebrations also involve masked individuals, including some that appear on stilts
that make them as tall as trees. The parade of Jonkonoo regale onlookers with various antics and present a minor
scare to some children, who are then calmed with candies and other treats.

In Nova Scotia, onlookers can try to calm the noise and rowdiness just a little if
they can correctly guess the identity of the masked person. A correct guess puts an end to the noise as the mask is
removed, exposing the individual. For their part, maskers also play nice by friendly nudging answers from children
about whether they have been naughty or nice and handing out candies and treats accordingly.

This Christmas tradition bears resemblance to the St. Nicholas Day in Germany,
when Santa visits the homes of boys and girls. See ourChristmas around the World article.